Monday, August 28, 2006

Daradja and- "Grade One"

Today, Kaitlyn starts first grade, or as they would say in Ethiopia, daradja aund (grade one). She was so adorable with her "wheel backpack", lunchbox with matching thermos ($.99 at the thrift store- brand new!) new sneakers, which she informed me this morning hurt both of her ankles. I knew there was a reason to let her wear them before the first day! I put some gauze pads in her socks and loosened the laces. I convinced her to give them a couple of days to break in. Personally, I think that if shoes don't fit right in the store that you might as well not buy them. But, they DID fight right in the store! But, that was when she was in love with the pink and purple on them and just had to have them. Last year, one of my biggest weaknesses was that I am not a "jump up with a smile, ready to greet the dawn of a new day" kind of person. So, I would resist getting out of bed until the last possible moment, often dropping her off while still in my pajamas. Don't worry, I didn't actually have to get out of the car, but still! (PS If you are the adoption blogger police and you're reading this post, please don't turn me in to my adoption agency! There are people who wear even their big fuzzy bedroom slippers out in public. And these people don't stay in their cars. They walk right into the school, library, store! I at least put on shoes with my pajamas!) Since I didn't like getting up, our mornings were usually full of rushing around and getting her there just in the nick of time before the tardy bell would ring, or often 1-3 minutes late. Well, obviously, this is not the ideal way for a resonsible, loving mother to handle getting ready for school. So, this year, I am attempting to do better. I've asked God to please give me a special kind of grace to get up early in the mornings out of love for my daughter. I'm also asking a dear friend to keep me accountable to doing this for Kaitlyn. And now I've declared to all of cyber-space my intentions to be a better mother. I may not shine, but my goal is to at least rise!